


All Roads Lead to Home

by abluestarinthenight



Category: Black Widow (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: F/F, M/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Stucky Secret Santa 2015, Stucky/Thorki Secret Santa 2015
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-06 19:09:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5427377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abluestarinthenight/pseuds/abluestarinthenight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Red Room reclaims its own. But so does Steve Rogers. The Winter Soldier has gone rogue after Washington, and now both the Avengers and the Black Widow agents are after him in an intercontinental tug of war. With new (and uncertain) allies, resurfacing memories, and an ever changing relationship with Steve, The Winter Soldier will have to decide who he can trust in a war he was never programmed to fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Roads Lead to Home

 

Vasilisa drummed her fingers on her new shiny phone. Red Room tech, of course, built for missions. Her only listed contact was Alexandra, her handler, who texted her orders when it wasn't safe to call. As it was now, in this busy little supermarket west side of nowhere.

The target (male, early thirties, code named the Winter Soldier) rounded a corner, placing another item on the trolley, before heading towards the tills. Sofia was trailing him. She caught Vasilisa’s eyes, raised an eyebrow which said “should I go in for the kill?” as loudly as if she had screamed it. The blonde shook her head in reply. That wasn't the mission.

Vasilisa walked over, swinging her shopping basket in one hand.

“You done yet?” she asked. “How long does it take to pick out some coriander?”

“It’s a fine art!” Sofia said indignantly. “But anyway, I’m almost done. Could you get the cereal for me?”

“Sure.” Vasilisa edged around the target, who was now contemplating Star Wars merchandise with a confused look on his face. “What is it called again?”

“Lucky Charms.”

“Cool. Back in a sec,” Vasilisa said, heading towards the cereal aisle. As soon as she was out of sight from the target her walk changed. Smoother, fluid steps replaced the teenage slouch. It wouldn’t have been that noticeable to a casual observer, but anyone with combat experience would recognize her posture.

She found the Lucky Charms as her phone pinged, displaying a text from an unknown number she had memorized: Sofia’s.

_Lost target_

She became aware of a thin line of pain underneath her ribs. She dropped the cereal into her basket, turning so that she could see both the knife suddenly digging into her side and the man holding it.

“Black Widow” he said, not even the hint of a question in his tone.

“Winter Soldier” she returned. “You’re a long way from home. We’re here to bring you back.”

His lips curled up into a cynical smirk. “Dead or alive?” Even through several days of stubble and lank, tangled hair, he held himself with a nobility Vasilisa had never seen. It was unearthly, the myth that was the Winter Soldier standing in front of her in an American supermarket straightening the collar of his red Henley. His eyes were gleaming, laughing at her. She was missing something.

His eyes flickered towards her phone and it clicked. He wasn’t asking about himself. He was talking about- “Do you want your partner dead or alive?”

She faked a look of boredom. “What are the conditions of her continued survival?”

She had to protect Sofia.

“You both go off the grid. I have a secure location. The Red Room can’t find you there.” He removed the knife and took a step back before they attracted attention.

Vasilisa turned her gaze to her phone, to Sofia’s text.

 _Backup needed_ she typed. Alexandra could monitor all texts and calls, but she couldn’t monitor the supermarket’s CCTV, it only accepted fingerprint scans and the Red Room didn’t consider it high enough importance to hack in.

In the meantime, the Winter Soldier was waiting.

“Dead or alive?” he asked again.

Vasilisa bit her lip. “Why are you trying to test me?”

The Winter Soldier looked down at her with a sad smile, and suddenly she felt very young.

“Black Widow, I’m trying to save you, and your partner. I can’t let anyone go through the things that happened to me.”

Sofia was standing behind him. Vasilisa realized she hadn’t noticed her arrival. Outwardly she seemed perfectly calm, but her hair, in its natural tight black curls, looked considerably more ruffled than it had been a few minutes ago, a sign she had run her hands through it, as she usually did when she panicked.

Vasilisa turned to the Winter Soldier.

“Alive” she said. “I’ll do anything but just… I can’t condemn her.”

He nodded. “Meet me outside.” With that, he turned and left, his shopping basket swinging from his metal hand.

“Vas?” Sofia asked cautiously. “What have you done?”

Vasilisa looked down at the Lucky Charms.

“I’ve saved your life.” She looked straight at Sofia, her gaze cold. “You better be worth it, Widow.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely open to interpretation, but in my head I picture Vasilisa as Elle Fanning and Sofia as Amandla Stenberg. Thanks to Lucy for beta-ing! I'm hoping to get another chapter up before Christmas, with Natasha, Sam and Steve in.


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